Means for forming seals for closure fasteners



May 15, 1934.- G. c. NEWCOMB MEANS FOR FORMING SEALS FOR CLOSURE FASTENERS Filed April 3, 1933 INVENTOR I??? U. NEwcaMB ATTORNEY Patented May 15, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR FORMING SEALS FOR CLOSURE FASTENERS 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in tools or implements for forming seals for closure fasteners and particularly, though not exclusively, seals for closure fasteners of the hasp type, such as used on car doors and the like.

It is the usual custom to seal the fasteners on the doors of freight cars and other structures wherein are housed or shipped commodities, but with many of the present sealing devices, it is possible to unseal and open the fastener and the doors to gain access to the enclosure for surreptitious purposes. Therefore, merchandise which has been properly placed within a freight car or other enclosure and the doors of which have been fastened and sealed may subsequently be opened, and the merchandise or parts of the merchandise removed without difficulty or detection.

"Furthermore, the doors of freight cars should be sealed in such a manner that they may be readily opened when the cars arrive at their destination, so that it is not desirable nor convenient to employ ke'ylocks. The usual form of lock for freight door cars is that of the hasp type, wherein the hasp receives a staple and a bolt is passed through the staple and then sealed in place. It is in connection with this and similar types of closure fasteners that my invention is especially adapted for use.

A seal formed by a tool embodying my invention consists essentially in a piece of wire of appreciable strength and diameter inserted through a bolt and keeper and bent to form a loop with one end of the wire wrapped about the other, and then bent so that the said other end is wound about it, whereby the completed seal comprises a closed loop having one side disposed through the bolt and keeper and terminating in a coiled stem composed of two groups of coils one disposed in a plane intersecting the plane of the other. Under such arrangement any eifort to force the seal open by inserting an implement in the loop will tighten the seal, it being necessary to cut or destroy the seal in order to gain access to the interior of the car or room.

The foregoing type of seal is preferably produced by a specially designed tool or implement capable of producing the seal but not capable of unwinding it. Such tool forms the subject matter of my present invention and consists of a metallic key-shaped implement preferably connected at one end to a handle and having adjacent the other end of its shank a lateral projection provided with a bore through which the wire may be inserted, and immediately at the end of the projection and at the end of the implement a nose to engage the other arm of the bent wire when the first arm has been inserted through the opening in the projection.

The invention in all of its aspects and all of the objects and advantages will be better understood and will be referred to in detail during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical car door closure sealed in accordance with my invention and showing a fragment of the doors;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the implement to produce the said seal;

Figs. 3-7 are detailed views showing the several steps in the production of the seal and its application to the closure fastener with the implement illustrated in its diiferent positions in dotted lines; and

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the completed seal and showing a portion of the implement or tool in section. r

In Fig. 1, the letter D designates the fragments of the doors to one of which is secured a hasp 'H, which, as is usual, is hingedly or swingably supported by an eye-bolt E inserted through the car door. The hasp H may be secured to the door by any other suitable or known means. 'Ifo'the other door'is secured a frame F having an upper loop L, a lowerprojection or lug K, and the usual H staple S. When the doors are closed and are to be sealed, the bolt B is removed, the hasp H is swung until its opening receives the staple S, and then the bolt B is inserted through the top loop L, through the staple S, until the head H of the bolt rests on the loop L, at which time opening 0 in the bolt B will be in registry with the opening 0' in the projection or lug K. All of the parts thus far described are of standard and known construction, and have been sealed heretofore by various types of sealing devices which engage95 through the openings 0, O.

In order to produce a seal with a tool embodying my invention, I cut a piece of wire, preferably No. 6 gauge steel wire, to a length of approximately 12" and bend this wire into U-shape to provide parallel arms 1 and 2 as shown in Fig. 3, with the arm 1 preferably of greater length than the arm 2, and then insert the arm 1 through the registering openings 0, O, in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

The implement or means which I provide for accomplishing the bending and winding of the arms 1 and 2 relative to each other to produce the seal is shown in Fig. 2, comprising a shank 3 having a loop 4 at one end through which is Til disposed a rod 5 over which Wooden handle pieces 6 are slipped, after which the ends of the rod 5 are peened over end washers '7. The shank 3 is thus swiveled on to the rod 5. At the other end of the shank 3, there is a lateral projection 8 having a longitudinal bore 9 provided therethrough. The shank 3 is preferably solid metal and the projection 8 is of sufficientwidth to afford the strength necessary to accomplish thebending of the relatively tough wire without breaking the implement and without displacing the predetermined location of the bore 9 relative to'the axis of the shank 3. The shank 3 extends beyond the projection 8 to provide a nose grooved at 10 to provide a surface to engage the sides of the wires as hereinafter pointed out.

Referring again to Fig. 3, wherein the arm 1 of the wire is disposed through the openings 0, O, in the bolt and lug K respectively, it will be noted that the tool is shown in dot and dash iplinesapplied to the arm 1 to effect the second :step, in the'formation of the seal. The arm 1 of the wire is inserted through the bore 9 and -,,the, end ofthe tool is abutting the bolt B. With the parts in thisposition, the tool is turned to bend the arm 1 out from the doors or car wall and at substantially right angles to and'across the arm 2 as shown in Fig. 4. With the tool still onthe arm 1 and projecting at right angles to the car and with the arm 2 disposed against the groove 10 on thenoseor end of the tool, the

-tool' is turned counter-clockwise to wind the shorter end 2 of the wire around the longer end atleast 1 and turn, as shown in Fig. 5. When this isaccomplished the shorter end of the wire vis pointing downward and thelonger end of the wire-is pointing out from the car wall or door.

The instrument or tool is then swung to the left toward the car wall to bend the longer end 1 substantially :parallel to the plane ofthe car receive a-wire to serve in connection therewith as an axis for rotation of the implement, the other end of the rod being provided-with an eye,and

wall or door to the position shown in Fig. 6. 'The ,tool is then removed from the longer end 1 and the shorter end 2 is inserted through the bore -9 and'with the groove IO-engaging against the arm 1, the toolis turned counterclockwise again twisting the end 1 around the shorter end 2 until the twist exhauststheentire length of the end 1, which is substantially the position shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 8. It will be noted that the shank of the tool turns about the bore 9 and wire therein as an axis, and that the coils are tightly wound about the respective arms 1 and 2.

I have designated the first group of coils generally by the reference character 12 in Figs. 5-8, these being the coils produced when the shorter arm 2 was wound about the longer arm 1, and I have designated the second group of coils produced when the longer arm was wound about the shorter arm by the reference character '13. It will be noted that these coils are disposed ,in different planes, and if the implement be. inserted through the loop 11 in an effort to strip the coils from their respective arms that the result-would be a tightening of the seal because each arm is firmly encircled or bound by the coils of the other arm.

I claim: 1. An implement for forming car seals of the character described comprisinga rod having a lateral projection adjacent one of its ends and said lateral projection having, a longitudinal bore ,therethrough substantially parallel to the .axis

of the rod, said end of the rod'projectingbeyond 1100 .handle at the other end of the rod.

-2. An implement for forming car seals of the character described comprising a rod having a lateral projection adjacent one of itsends and said lateral projection having a longitudinal-bore therethrough substantially parallel to the axis-of the rod, said end of the rod'projecting beyond said lateral projection and having its face near- ,est said projection formed to engage the side of a wire to be coiled, said bore being adapted to;; 

